


Wild Child

by QueenCarol



Category: The Walking Dead (TV), carzekiel - Fandom
Genre: AU, F/M, Sophia Peletier Lives, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26204416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCarol/pseuds/QueenCarol
Summary: She’s been spotted three times before; dirty, skinny and wild. She’s always alone and always silent.  She’s as fast as an animal running for her life.  Who is she? What does she want? And why does she remind him so much of Carol?
Relationships: Carol Peletier & Sophia Peletier, Ezekiel & Henry (Walking Dead: Kingdom), Ezekiel/Carol Peletier, Henry (Walking Dead: Kingdom) & Carol Peletier
Comments: 13
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1: Spotted

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> Carol Peletier, Sophia Peletier, King Ezekiel, Henry, Jerry, Shiva, and any other recognizable character, part of script or plot of The Walking Dead belong to AMC Network and Skybound Entertainment, Image Comics and Robert Kirkman.
> 
> In no way is the author claiming ownage of any of the characters nor is there any economical/monetary gain at any time. The author is extremely respectful of the original creators and is willing to take down this work of fiction if requested.
> 
> No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Original characters are property of the author.

“We saw her again, your majesty.” 

Jerry’s announcement is not what Ezekiel hopes to hear so early in the morn. He especially dislikes hearing them as his wife and son are preparing to embark on a training mission that will take them away from the safety of The Kingdom’s gates. By the way Jerry delivers the message, it is obvious they are not the words his best friend would have liked to welcome him with.

Carol has been planning this training mission for the past couple of weeks after months of Henry begging her to teach him all she knows. Though she’d been hesitant because of past experiences, Henry had defended his request to the point that arguing against it was simply impossible. Every reason Carol could throw at the young boy was met with a cleverly masterful rebuttal. He had been both proud and astonished at the way his son had presented his case. In the end, Carol had agreed to it as long as Henry promised to be extremely careful and to follow her instructions without any questions. 

Henry had been beyond himself, promising over and over that he wasn’t going to let her down. Carol had then spent the afternoons planning the trek, making sure he was aware of every single spot they would visit or camp at so that if something did happen, he’d be able to find them fast.

Ezekiel had no qualms letting his wife and son embark on this mission. He knew that with Carol, Henry would be safe and would come back after being thoroughly trained to defend himself against any and all dangers. He also knew how important it was for Henry so there was no doubt in his mind that he’d be attentive and on his best behavior. Walkers or unsavory people were no match for his wife and son.

That was before they spotted her.

The first report of her existence had come from Diane who had been visiting from Hilltop where she had remained to help Maggie. She had spotted what appeared to be a young woman, dirty from head to toe. She’d only caught a glimpse of her before the woman had dashed into the thick cover of the forest. Worried, Diane had mentioned it in order to give them a heads up, though she didn’t really think the woman posed any threat to them.

She’d been spotted again near the stream two days later. This time one of the Kingdom hunters had seen her a little better. What they thought was a woman had turned out to be a tall teenager. Again, he was told that she was dirty from head to toe but what had worried him was the fact that they were told she was very skinny and acted almost feral when they had tried to approach. 

The third contact had come a week later. They had found some tracks circling the land near the road that leads to The Kingdom. Deciding to offer their community as a possible haven, Ezekiel’s men had been led by Jerry in a recovery mission. It had somehow ended with one of them sporting a broken leg courtesy of the teenager who had gotten scared of their presence and had defended herself against the perceived danger.

Carol had almost canceled the whole training mission after that. She didn’t want to expose Henry to danger, especially a danger that she had almost no intel on. Her motherly instinct told her to keep Henry safe and there was no going against it. Ezekiel had agreed with her decision to postpone out of fear of something happening to either of them if they crossed paths with the teenager. Henry had been displeased but he was a good boy who understood the importance of listening to his parents.

The third contact had been the last for nearly two weeks. To be honest, Ezekiel had almost forgotten she was around and with Henry’s insistence that perhaps the girl had moved on, Carol had relented. The training mission was back on track.

“Where?” He pushes himself away from the map that lays on top of the table in front of him and waits for Jerry to approach him.

“The stream, again.” Jerry quickly replies. “She’s fast, boss. I tried catching up to her but she knows her way around the forest.”

“Henry will be displeased to hear of this,” Ezekiel mumbles under his breath before raising a hand to scratch his beard. 

Keeping the information to himself was out of the question. He and Carol kept no secrets from each other. They shared even the smallest of things especially anything that could put their family in danger. This qualifies as such. He knows he has to tell her, the sooner the better, least she and Henry make their way out of the safety of their home. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to either of them.

“Where is the Queen?”

Jerry’s answer comes swiftly and sure almost as soon as the words have left his lips. “She is preparing the horses, my King.”

Not wanting to waste even a second, Ezekiel takes a couple of steps forward and jumps down from the stage. He lands on his booted feet, his coat swishing behind him before he practically rushes down the hallway of the auditorium. The sudden need to go to his family’s side overwhelms him to the point of not caring whether his worry seems unfounded or not. He might be exaggerating but he’s not going to run the risk of either Carol or Henry getting hurt.

Jerry follows him as soon as Ezekiel rushes by, keeping up with his steps easily. He knows his best friend and steward is worried too. Nabila is heavily pregnant with their second child, their son barely entering his toddler years. The last thing he wants is an unknown danger attacking their community, even if it seems like it’s just a wayward teenager. He has as much to lose as Ezekiel does and neither man is willing to gamble on their family’s well-being.

Neither stops until they reach the stables where he finds both Carol and Henry guiding their horses out of the shelter. Carol’s lips curl into a beautiful smile as soon as she sees him but then her eyes narrow, her forehead scrunches with confusion and she straightens her shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” Her blue eyes zero in on his. She’s always been able to read him well, as well as he reads her. If something is bothering him, she knows. 

Carol extends her arm, her free hand offered for him to take. He slides his hand into hers before pulling her close, his lips seeking hers for a sweet kiss that he knows will calm his racing mind and thundering heart.

“Yuck,” Henry mumbles from somewhere beside them before shuffling to the other side of the horse to finish adjusting his riding chair.

Carol smiles against his lips before breaking their kiss. With a much softer tone, perhaps reassured that he hasn’t quickly ushered them towards safety and that thus they aren’t being attacked, Carol repeats. “What’s wrong, love?”

Ezekiel balances his weight on one foot then on the other, trying to find the correct words to use because he knows Henry is listening. “They saw her again.”

“Who?” Sure enough, Henry had been listening. “Was it the girl?”

“The same girl?” Carol asks almost at the same time as Henry, their voices overlapping. 

Ezekiel nods. “She was at the stream again. Jerry tried to catch her but he says she’s fast.”

“Like Sonic fast,” Jerry adds from behind him.

“We should go find her!” His son quickly declares as he moves away from the horse and back to his parents' sides. “She could need help. Maybe that’s why she’s staying around.”

“Or she could be gathering information for a much bigger group.” Carol theorizes. 

Henry rolls his eyes and tilts his head to the side as if to challenge his mother’s words. “Mom, it’s just one girl.”

“Who hurt one of us already.” Carol reminds him. “I’m not risking taking you out and getting you hurt. The training is canceled.”

“Moooom!” Henry’s expression falls from that of challenging to let down by the current situation. His son knows why Carol is putting a stop to it but the boy has been looking forward to it for so long. “It’s just one girl. No one has seen anyone else with her.”

“And you should know the power one person could possess given the proper skills,” Ezekiel interjects quickly. “Was it not your mother who single-handedly protected Alexandria when it was attacked by the Wolves? Was it not your mother who saved her family from the cannibals at Terminus? Wasn’t she the one who trained our new army in combat?”

Henry had heard all the stories before so Ezekiel knew his son had the answer to his questions. He and Carol had wanted him to know about the dangers this new world could bring and how he should never underestimate a situation. They’d told him all about her previous experiences so that he could learn from them. It seemed they still had some work to do in that area.

“Yes, sir,” Henry replies in a rather embarrassed sigh. 

“Then perhaps we should heed your mother’s advice and remain within The Kingdom’s walls.”

Seeing that Henry was truly saddened, though understanding, Ezekiel wants nothing more than to embrace him. Carol beats him to it, pressing a kiss to the young boy’s forehead. “We’ll go out another day, Henry.” She promises before urging him towards the horses. “Go on, help them back to the stables.”

Dejected, Henry reaches for the horse reigns and slowly guides them back to the stable. His feet shuffle against the pavement as he goes.

It is only when he’s out of sight, and earshot, that Carol turns to Ezekiel and gives him an encouraging smile. He hates to put his foot down, hates to discipline, or even raise his voice with his son, but if there is one thing that won’t do is Henry going against his parents' instructions on matters such as this.

“Thank you.” She whispers before she leans forward to peck his lips. “I know how hard that was for you.”

“Our son has a good heart,” he notes. “But he's equally headstrong.”

“Wonder who he gets that from.” She raises an eyebrow teasingly at him before she grows serious again. He’s always been marveled by her ability to refocus as much as of her floundering sense of humor. They are two sides of her that he finds endearing and which he’s madly in love with. “We have to find her.”

“I am aware.” Ezekiel agrees as he squeezes her hand. “And even though I just chastised him, I have to admit his theory of her needing aid might be a possibility.”

Behind crystal blue eyes that have captivated him ever since he met her, Ezekiel can see her mind working rapidly. She has the ability to strategize, to look at a problem from every possible angle, and find a solution in a matter of seconds. He knows most of it comes from the way her previous husband had treated her and how she’d had to be fast on her feet in order to survive and protect her daughter, but it’s also because she’s intelligent and strong. He trusts her implicitly. 

“We have to find her.” She finally declares. “If she’s hurt we can help her while keeping a close eye on her. If she’s with another group we’ll know. We can plan accordingly, double the security at the wall, and tell the other communities to be on alert.”

“I agree. I’ll take a group of Kingdom soldiers to the stream. It seems she favors the location.” As soon as the words have left his lips Ezekiel knows he’s in for it. Her chin instantly tilts upward and her eyes fully narrow into small slits that let him know how small her patience will be if he messes up.

“I can track her down.” She reminds him.

“I have no doubt of it, my love.” Ezekiel quickly assures her. If there is anyone in The Kingdom that can track as well as a hunter, it’s Carol. In fact, he’d warrant that she would do an even better job at tracking down a person than any of the hunters could. “But I’d rather you remain here where it is safe.”

“Ezekiel-“

“I’m not attempting to say you are weak, Carol, but I will not deny that it scares me to think of you out there.”

Though the muscles around her eyes do relax and the corner of her lips curl up, Carol doesn’t back down. He didn’t expect her to do so. “Weren’t you just talking about how I single-handedly dealt with two threats and trained our people to deal with whatever comes their way?” She challenges. “I think I can handle this girl.”

“I know you can,” he assures her. “That’s not up to discussion. However, my Queen, you aren’t invincible.”

“Don’t call me that.” She lets go of his hand but only ends up digging one of her fingers to his rib in retaliation. “I'm not... Queenly.”

He smiles at the roll of her eyes before reaching for her hand once again and bringing it up to his lips. “You are, my love, you are.”

“Shut up.” She mumbles before lifting on her top toes and kissing him chastely. It’s not enough for him though, he needs another kiss from her. Ezekiel quickly pulls her back, guiding their clasped hands behind her back to pull her as tight to him as possible. 

“We have a girl to track.” She reminds him as he leans forward, their noses brushing against each other. 

“I know, but that can wait while I kiss my beautiful wife.” He leans the rest of the way and presses his lips to hers tenderly. Carol immediately relaxes against him, her body molding to his as her free hand raises to wrap around the back of his neck. He feels her pulling him down to her and he willingly goes, their lips never separating until his lungs are burning.

When he pulls back he finds Carol’s pale skin blushing. Her eyes appear bluer, her pupils are fully blown out. He could easily tease her and she would tease him back no doubt, but instead, he raises his free hand and caresses her cheek lovingly. “I hate you being in danger but I am smart enough to never hold you back.”

This time a full dazzling smile appears on her lips. “Good.” She whispers before taking a step back and turning towards Jerry. The poor man is pretending to be interested in a nearby apple tree in an attempt to give them some privacy. “Come on, Jerry. We have a girl to find.”

TBC


	2. Rag Doll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’d described her as a young woman, then a teenager, but now Ezekiel can see just how young the wild child truly is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> Carol Peletier, Sophia Peletier, King Ezekiel, Henry, Jerry, Shiva, and any other recognizable character, part of script or plot of The Walking Dead belong to AMC Network and Skybound Entertainment, Image Comics and Robert Kirkman.
> 
> In no way is the author claiming ownage of any of the characters nor is there any economical/monetary gain at any time. The author is extremely respectful of the original creators and is willing to take down this work of fiction if requested.
> 
> No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Original characters are property of the author.

They’ve been tracking the girl for well over an hour before Carol shakes her head and lets out a loud sigh. He knows she is annoyed that they haven’t been able to find her. “She’s been going in circles. From the stream to the road near Kingdom then back.”

“Where does she sleep though?” Jerry asks. 

It’s true, they haven’t found a single resting spot. They’ve found no flattened forest bed where she has laid, no camp to come back to, no sign that she’s stopped to hunt and deal with any animal’s carcass. It’s as if she’s just going back and forth, never resting, never meeting anyone else.

Carol bites the inside of her lip as she thinks. He can see the thoughts moving in her mind, her eyes moving from the last tracks she’s followed to the nearest tree. A glint of realization appears in her eyes and she tilts her head back. He follows her gaze as it goes up the thick tree trunk and stops once it reaches the thick canopy of forest leaves. 

“She’s been sleeping on the trees.” Carol finally concludes. “Smart. Keeps herself out of danger.”

“The wasted cannot reach her.” Ezekiel agrees. “And the living cannot see her.”

He doesn’t have to turn to look at Carol to know that she’s nodding. He also doesn’t have to be looking at her to know she’s already planning something.

“We need to split up.”

“What?” He asks surprised as he whips his head to look at her, his dreads flying with the force of his movement, hitting his chest and shoulders. “No!”

“It’s the only way. She’s smart. She’s fast. She obviously knows how to survive.” Carol lists as she steps closer to him. Her voice drops in volume so that it won’t carry away from their spot and again she shows him how she’s always thinking ahead. 

For all they know, the girl could be near and could be watching them. A rush of protectiveness runs through him making him hyper-focus on the trees around them in case there’s any immediate danger. He’s ready to protect Carol, to step between her and whatever could hurt her. He wants to shut this mission down and order everyone back to Kingdom as fast as they can get there. He wants to wrap his arms around her and hold her protectively until they are back home. Carol can protect herself -he knows it- but that doesn’t mean that he’ll ever stop trying to keep her away from danger. 

“We know where she spends most of her time; the road and the stream.” Carol continues. He knows that she’s noticed his reaction because of the touch of her fingers against the top of his hand. It’s a simple caress but it reassures him. The touch is her way of saying ‘I know you want to protect me, but trust me on this one.’ Who is he not to trust her? “The day is getting hot so she’s going to want to stay near the water, where she can be fresh. We can have a group there pretending to be minding their business. Ezekiel, I know that if there is anyone who can calm her and get her to talk, it’s you. The other group can stay hidden as reinforcements in case things go south. If everything turns out fine, then we follow you home.”

He knows that what she’s laying down is a sound plan but he still doesn’t like the whole splitting up part.

“She’s got you there, boss.” His best friend says with a smirk and a playful twinkle in his eye.

“Jerry,” Ezekiel warns.

Jerry raises his hands up in surrender before taking a couple of steps back as if to tell them he’ll follow whatever they decide but he knows better than to take a side. Ezekiel rolls his eyes at him, an expression that Jerry catches and that makes him grin. 

With Jerry moving towards the rest of the knights, Ezekiel turns fully towards Carol. He says nothing simply because he knows objecting will not get him anywhere. Instead, his fingers caress one of the straps of the leather vest she wears to protect her chest from any attack. Immediately, Carol reacts to him by moving closer. Her fingers find the loops of his pants and gently pulls at them to guide him even closer.

“You know I’m right.” She whispers. She’s so close that he can feel her breath against his lips but he refuses to look at her in the eye. He knows the moment that he does he’s going to lose himself in the blue of her irises and he’s going to forget what he wants to say. 

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He continues caressing the edge of the strap down until it reaches the small knife sheath on the side. It’s yet another reminder that she’s always ready to defend herself and those she loves. “It only works if what we assume she’ll do is actually right. If not, I could be putting you in more danger by leaving your side.”

“I’ll be hiding. Not even you will know where we are.”

“Which is exactly my problem, beloved.” He finally makes eye contact so that she can see how worried he truly is. So many things could go wrong. So many. They are assuming she’ll behave a certain way and that she’s on her own, but the fact remains that they know so little of the mysterious girl and splitting up could make them weaker. “What if she is not alone? If she has a group?”

“Then she’ll talk to you and stay when you leave to Kingdom. My group will wait, follow her, and catch them.”

He frowns. Either scenario ends with her being in more danger than she needs to be and he doesn’t like it. “And if that goes wrong?”

Carol leans back a little, an eyebrow raising as the corner of her lip curls upward. “Weren’t you just telling our son how I took various groups down all by myself?” She asks. Her voice has a hint of a tease hidden within, a bit of the humor and wit that he knows she possesses. “They won’t know what hit them.”

He grins only because he loves to see the confidence that radiates from her. With that half-grin on her face and the glint in her eye, she looks as gorgeous as ever. Ezekiel raises a hand and gently caresses her cheek with it as he starts chuckling softly. “Will I ever be able to convince you about anything?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” She says with a wiggle of her eyebrows at him. “I’m sure you’ll be able to convince me of many things. The trying is what makes it fun and I don’t mind it trying over and over.”

Carol closes the distance between them. Her sweet lips press to his, her arms rising to wrap around his neck as she melts against him. He wants to deepen the kiss but he knows the knights are waiting for them to be done having their moment alone and that Carol will grow shy if she catches them watching. For now, the sweet kiss will have to do.

“What if...” Carol mumbles after she pulls back and licks her lips. “What if I promise we’ll only observe. No jumping on them. If she doesn’t go with you well stay hidden, gather whatever info we can get on her or her group, if she has one, then meet you back home at sundown?”

Ezekiel pauses to look into her blue eyes. They’ve always been a window to her soul, sometimes even a reflection of his. If she has any other intention he’d be able to discern it easily. In them, he finds nothing but truth. He still doesn’t like splitting but it’s a step up from her leading a charge against an unknown foe. He’ll take it.

“You promise?”

She pecks his lips quickly before giving him a nod. “I promise. We’ll only observe.”

—

“She’ll be fine, boss,” Jerry says yet again as he throws a pebble into the water.

They’ve been waiting by the stream for some time, pretending to mind their own business all the while actually waiting for the mysterious girl. Yet as the sun moved across the sky, Ezekiel has been unable to think of anything else but of Carol. He has no idea where she is, if she is alright, or if she’s encountered the girl and is in danger. It irks him not knowing. It makes his skin crawl and makes him feel like he’s at the edge of a precipice with no other way to go but down.

“She’s got six knights with her. You and I are in more danger than the Queen.”

“I know, Jerry,” Ezekiel admits without looking up from the water. He’s supposed to be relaxed and calm, to be enjoying a respite from a supposed trek and it’s taking every ounce of acting muscle he’s ever had to pull it off. “But I will always worry about her whenever she has departed my side.”

“I get it, boss. I’m the same with Nabila, Ezra, and our little bun in the oven.” Jerry’s slightly nervous chuckle makes Ezekiel crack the first smile since separating from Carol. It’s always wonderful to hear Jerry talk about his family. He’s a surrogate uncle to Ezra and he no doubt will be to the baby girl that will soon be born. 

“Have you decided on a name for the little bundle of joy?” 

“Nah,” Jerry replies as he throws another pebble in. “We’ve narrowed it down to Angelica, Aliyah, or Amy.”

“An A name.”

“First girl and first letter of the alphabet.”

Ezekiel is about to reply when a cracking sound makes them both turn and scramble to reach for their weapons. It is all part of the plan to appear as vulnerable as possible, which he certainly feels if he’s got to admit it.

“Stop!” 

The voice he hears is far younger than he’s expected. She’d been described to him first as a young woman then as a teenager but now that he turns to see her he can see just how young she truly is. There is no way that she is over sixteen. No way at all. 

“We mean you no harm.” He explains as he lifts his hands, palms up, to show her that he’s not going to attack her. “I am King Ezekiel.”

The girl stares at him wide-eyed. Her hazel eyes seem as wild as she appears but they draw him in, the gaze so familiar to him. He can’t help but to quickly look her over, trying to gather as much information on her as he can. The girl’s hair is matted but it seems to be a mix between dirty blond and auburn under the bandana she has tied over it. Her skin appears grayish though Ezekiel isn’t sure if it’s because of fear, malnutrition, or the layer of dirt that she seems to have all over her skin and clothes. She wears an opened Henley which has obviously seen better days. It’s tied at the bottom to keep it in place over a faded red shirt. The cargo pants she’s wearing hang loose around her hips, far too lose which is why she appears to have tied it in place with a piece of rope. A tattered backpack hangs off her back and an empty machete holster covers most of her left thigh. She holds the missing blade in her right hand, pointed at them with a steady hold.

Seeing that she’s not keen on replying, Ezekiel gives Jerry a quick glance before turning to her once again. “My people have told me they’ve seen you before. I offer my sincerest apologies if they’ve scared you.”

“She’s probably scared us more, boss.”

“This is my fateful friend, Jerry.” Ezekiel introduces him which he uses as an excuse to send the younger man a look. “I believe he ran after you not too long ago.”

“Sonic fast,” Jerry mumbles under his breath just as Ezekiel turns to look at the girl again. 

“Again, I offer apologies. We didn’t know if you were friend or foe. We still don’t.”

The girl narrows her eyes at him and immediately sends a bolt up his spine that makes him straighten. The way she is looking at him reminds him a lot of the way Carol looked at him when they’d just met; as if she was unsure whether to trust him or not. He watches closely as her eyes flicker between him and Jerry, her head turning slightly to show a familial nose. It seems very close to his wife’s nose, a nose he is well acquainted with after tracing, caressing, kissing, and pressing against. Even the dusting of freckles all over her face seems to hint at something he can’t quite place.

He has to be seeing things. His worry about Carol’s well-being must be messing up with his mind. There is no way that she can look like his wife because that would mean that they are related, but Carol didn’t have any siblings who could have sired this child and her only daughter had gotten lost in the woods, never to be seen or heard from again.

His next thought makes him freeze.

“May I have your name to make your acquaintance.” He asks as she continues with the charade. 

“No.” The girl clearly states as she raises the machete a little higher. 

“We mean you no harm.” He reminds her, his hand instinctively raising higher as the blade glistens with the dying sun. “You can trust us. I am the leader of the community you’ve been surveilling; the Kingdom. We are a peaceful but strong community, a place where you can find respite from the world, a place to call home if you so desire.”

The girl clenches her jaw but doesn’t answer, not verbally at least. Her eyes give away her hesitation and curiosity as they flicker between him and Jerry. 

“You are welcome there.” He continues pushing. This is his part of the mission, to talk to the girl and find out if she is hurt and in need of aid. He’s not going to fail at completing it because if he does convince her to come with him then the danger towards Carol, and ultimately towards Henry, greatly reduces. “You could come with us. We have plenty of food, running water, and safety. A bed to sleep on and a roof to rest under.”

“If you have a group, a family, they are welcome as well. The more the merrier!” Jerry adds quickly.

The girl takes a step back at the mention of a family. Something flashes in her eyes before her chin quivers. 

“Uh... I’m sorry.” Jerry quickly offers. 

Ezekiel can hear the confusion at her strong reaction in his friend's voice, but the moment that Jerry takes a step forward the girl jumps and takes more steps back. She tilts her chin up in a move that once again reminds him of Carol whenever she has a flashback of her life with Ed. She is preparing herself for a blow.

“Don’t! Don’t move!” She demands, her voice trembling and as unsure as that of a wounded scared animal. “Don’t move!”

“We aren’t gonna hurt-“ Jerry insists but the girl swings her machete as a warning as she moves back and he quiets down almost instantly.

Before Ezekiel can say anything else, the curve of a bow appears from the bushes far behind the girl. An arrow is nooked and ready to be fired, held steady by a hand he knows well. As he watches Carol slowly emerge he finds himself unable to fault her. She had promised to observe only if he left safely but the girl was obviously on edge and if she’d swung once she could swing again. The last thing they needed was Jerry or him on the receiving end of her machete.

“Don’t move.” He hears the ice in his wife’s voice. It’s a tone he has only heard her use against their enemies and which chills him even though he knows it’s not directed at him. She sees danger, she’s focused on it, and she’s gonna act before he gets hurt. If he’d in her place, he’d been reacting just the same. “Drop it.”

The girl raises the machete and he sees Carol react to it, ready to fire the arrow. Instead of launching at them or running away as fast as Jerry claims her to be, the girl surprises him by turning on her axis, her machete ready. She’s going to attack Carol, he’s sure of it. He quickly reaches for his staff, pulling his sword from it. Before he can rush to protect his wife, the hand that holds the machete lowers almost as soon as the girl’s finished turning, her body going from being ready to fight to the death to being completely frozen in place. He can’t see her face but judging by the sudden look of pure surprise and fear in his wife’s eyes, he knows that something they hadn’t planned for is happening.

He watches as his wife lowers her bow, her hand releasing the tension of the string. Even from where he is, Ezekiel can see her eyes fill with ushed tears, her chin quivering as the tip of her nose starts turning red. She tries to speak, tries to say something, but her words seem to be stuck in her throat, appearing to painfully lodge in it.

“Carol...” 

He never gets to finish for something catches his eye. Tied to the back of the tattered backpack is a rag doll. The doll is as dirty as the teenager seems to be and has obviously been well-loved. The brown hair made out of yarn is braided on either side of the doll’s head while a slightly torn pink and white checkered dress covers the clothed doll. Her blue stitched eyes have lost their shine but they still stare at Ezekiel. 

He knows this doll. He’s heard how loved it had been, how tenderly it had been taken care of all those years ago for it was the only possession that teetered a little girl to the world that once was. The realization of why this girl has the doll and why she reminds him so much of Carol slams into him. Now his wife's reaction makes perfect sense, the girl’s reaction makes perfect sense. This wasn’t just his brain making things up, nor was it a random twice removed family member. This was Carol’s little girl.

A fat tear falls down Carol’s check, sliding down until it hits the end of her lip and she instinctually licks it. “So... Sophia?” She stammers.

The machete falls to the ground completely forgotten. A sob almost rocks the girl back to the point that Ezekiel moves to catch her if needed, afraid that she will pass out. Instead, she curls into herself like a scared child would do, wrapping her slender arms around her tiny waist.

“Ma... Mama?”

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Sophia is alive!


	3. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can’t! I can’t!” She whimpers. Her hand reaches to hold on to his shirt, bunching it in her fist. “I can’t lose her again. Soph... SOPHIA!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> Carol Peletier, Sophia Peletier, King Ezekiel, Henry, Jerry, Shiva, and any other recognizable character, part of script or plot of The Walking Dead belong to AMC Network and Skybound Entertainment, Image Comics and Robert Kirkman.
> 
> In no way is the author claiming ownage of any of the characters nor is there any economical/monetary gain at any time. The author is extremely respectful of the original creators and is willing to take down this work of fiction if requested.
> 
> No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Original characters are property of the author.

Carol and Sophia stare at each other silently. He knows by the look on his wife’s face that she can’t believe what she’s seeing. From what she’s shared with him, they had looked throughout the woods for her until it was no longer an option. When the Hershel farm had been invaded by the wasted, Carol had been forced to leave her little girl behind. It had absolutely broken her to face the fact that Sophia had to be dead. To this date, she still had nightmares of her little one coming out of a barn, a huge chunk of her shoulder missing.

Now she’s facing her baby girl again. Sophia is standing in front of her. She is alive.

“Sophia.”

“No, no, no.” He hears Sophia whimper. The sob that springs forth is heartbreaking. He practically feels the pain reverberate out of the thin girl in front of them. Sophia raises her hands to cover her ears as she starts shaking her head. “You aren’t real. It’s not real.”

“Sophia,” Carol repeats in a whimper. She takes a shaky step forward, her arms extended to reach for the child she had thought long lost. “Baby.”

“No!” Sophia jumps back as if burned. It happens so suddenly that Ezekiel finally understands why Jerry kept insisting she was fast. In the blink of an eye, Sophia picks up the discarded weapon and bolts to the nearest trees. 

“SOPHIA!” Carol’s scream is so gut-wrenching that all he wants to do is hug and protect her. She doesn’t understand why Sophia is running away from her and she hurts because of it. Honestly, he doesn’t understand it either. He would have assumed the young girl would be excited to see her mother, would have run to her arms and cried against her chest. That wasn’t the case though, not at all.

Before he can reach Carol to reassure her, his heart jumps to his throat as he watches something flash in Carol’s eyes then sees her rush after Sophia. “Carol!” 

His body is moving before he even consciously knows about it. He can hear his knights running behind him, trying to catch up to both of them. It’s all a blur of greens and browns and parts of trees that slam into his face as he runs behind Carol. His wife is fast on her feet and has a quick mind but Sophia seems to be on another level altogether. She seems to move like an animal; one swift movement linked to the next, jumping over overgrown roots and fallen branches, while barely being out of breath.

“SOPHIA!” Carol cries out again. “SOPHIA STOP!”

He can hear that Carol is out of breath already but she’s too far away from Sophia to stop her. 

“CAROL!” He’s drawing closer to her, gaining some space as she becomes tired. The tiredness from the late afternoons spent planning the training mission is catching up to her. Her body is failing her and he can hear the irritation in the grunts she gives.

“SOPHIA!” Her voice is turning even more desperate and laced with sobs. It’s the cry of a mother who is reaching for her daughter and losing her all over again. He sees her running slow to a halt, her legs shaking as she falls to her knees, her chest heaving with the effort of her run. “Soph... SOPHIA!”

His knees slam on the ground as he reaches her, his arms going around her, and holding her tightly. She fights against him for a second, trying to push her body even further in an attempt to reach Sophia, but eventually she slumps into his chest.

“I can’t! I can’t!” She whimpers. Her hand reaches to hold on to his shirt, bunching it in her fist. “I can’t lose her again. Soph... SOPHIA!”

“Shhh, you aren’t gonna lose her,” Ezekiel promises. He prays he isn’t lying to her. He prays they’ll be able to track her down again, to talk to her and let her see that her mother is really there. That it isn’t all a dream that will be ripped away from her. “We will find her. I promise.” 

He feels Jerry arrive beside him but before the man can fully stop Ezekiel is already waving him in the direction they last saw Sophia run through. “Find her! We can’t lose her.”

Jerry nods, though he has a confused expression on his face as he races after her. He doesn’t know who Sophia is or why she reacted the way she did. Carol has always been very private, holding things close to her heart, especially things as important as her daughter. Back when they’d been about to fight the saviors and Henry had taken it upon himself to prove he was strong, she’d shared with him a little about Sophia, but it hadn’t been until Henry started calling her mom that he’d heard the whole tale. She’d been scared to fail him like she thought she’d failed Sophia and had cried, for the first time since she’d lost her, while laying securely in his arms. Jerry had no way of knowing Carol had a daughter and it wasn't his place to tell him.

“Ezekiel... she... why did she...?” She doesn’t finish her question before another round of sobbing breaks her but she really doesn’t need to finish in order for him to understand. 

Ezekiel wants to be able to explain to her why Sophia has reacted the way she has but he doesn’t understand it either. The best he can come up with is that she is afraid after being alone for so long. She’s as skittish as an animal who has been alone far too long, who has had to fend for herself and learn to survive. He’s not about to tell her that though because he knows Carol will blame herself for it. “I don’t know, baby.” He whispers against her hair. “But we’ll find her. We’ll help her and bring her home.”

Ezekiel is all but ready to pick up his devastated wife and carry her back to the Kingdom when he hears the most horrible sound he’s ever heard. The scream is loud, the sounds of agony tearing through a young throat. The cry comes out of nowhere, and though slightly dampened by distance and trees, he can still feel the guttural pain behind it. Carol instantly recognizes it, stiffening in his arms as her head turns towards the sound. “Sophia.” She declares with wide eyes.

They both scramble to their feet without another word. The cry continues, louder with each step that they take towards it, the pain dripping in waves from it. He can hear his wife’s frantic breathing matched with his as they plow through the wilderness, both of them eager to stop the sounds of pain. 

“SOPHIA!” He hears Carol call out again. There’s a brief halt to the cry before the howling starts again. 

“SOPHIA!” He joins his wife in calling out. The sooner they find her the sooner they’ll be able to help her get rid of whatever is causing her pain.

“Over here!” Jerry’s voice makes Ezekiel turn right and into a clearing within the woods. He stops as he finally sees Sophia sitting in the middle of the grass, her machete discarded beside her. Her face is wet, her mouth opened wide as she lets out another cry before leaning forward and burying her face against her knee. Her hands reach towards her left foot where she tries to release herself from the tramp that has snapped around her foot. Blood is already pooling beneath her, her skin tore not only by the trauma but also by her struggle. 

“Sophia!” Carol calls out as soon as she sees her. Before Ezekiel can stop her, his wife rushes forward, her shoulder-length hair billowing behind her. “Soph. It’s okay, Soph, can you look at me? Sophia?”

“Mama?” Sophia whimpers again. Her voice is back to that of the little girl they’d just seen before she took off running; scared and hurt. She pulls away from her knee, her eyes full of tears as she looks up at her mother’s face.

“Yes, sweetheart. It’s mama.” He hears Carol assure her. 

Ezekiel wants nothing more than to look at Carol’s face to see the smile he can already hear in her voice. Sophia is in pain but the recognition the girl gives her is enough to blow hope into his wife’s heart, even if only for a second. Behind him, he hears the footsteps of the rest of their party but instead of waiting for them, he moves to his wife’s side and focuses on the trap to try and find the best way to release it.

“I thought we had them all removed, boss,” Jerry admits as he kneels beside him. His hands hover over the rusty metal trap but Ezekiel knows that releasing Sophia from it will be a two-man job. “Rogue saviors must have laid them down again.”

Without the protection of Negan, and without the type of society they had created, the saviors have been starving. Ezekiel has heard that they struggle to get their basic needs met and while there had been tug at his heart he has been unable to help anyone who refuses to live under the rules of the Kingdom and the peace treaty. As such, the saviors have resorted to whatever they can do to have food and their latest effort included traps concealed by the wilderness. The first moment he had seen them, Ezekiel had been livid. They were a monstrosity that induced prolonged pain and suffering for the trapped animal instead of the quick death that hunting should bring. He’d ordered them removed but they had kept popping up every once in a while. Now it was plainly obvious they needed to do another sweep to get rid of more of them.

“Can you get it off?” Carol asks. He can hear the worry in her voice, the pain that she feels knowing Sophia is hurt and in pain. It is the same worry he’d heard that one time Henry had been wrapped in the throes of a high fever. He hadn’t liked it then and he certainly didn’t like it now. 

“Yeah,” he promises. “Jerry I’ll need your help.”

“You got it, boss.”

“Carol. Hold Sophia. This is gonna hurt.” He waits until he sees Carol nod and wraps her arms around the trembling girl. He can see the hesitation in her movements as if Sophia will somehow spring up at any moment and run away again. The pain she must be feeling must be enough to override whatever panicked response Sophia had had because the young teenager instantly buried her face against her mother’s shoulder, curling against her as best as she can. 

“I’ve got you, sweetheart.” Carol whispers against her daughter’s head. “Mama’s got you. I’m never letting you go again. I promise.”

“It hurts, Mama.” Sophia cries into her mother’s shoulder. 

“I know, baby. I know.” Carol’s trembling voice tears at his heart. He wants nothing more than to take away her fear and pain instantly. Unfortunately, he’s unable to do that but what he can do is free Sophia and get her the help she needs.

The trap isn’t complicated but it is rusty. Whatever mechanism still works, and judging by the way it had snapped around Sophia’s foot it definitively worked, could be hard to get to release. Giving up is not an option though, he has to get Sophia out with the least amount of damage. “Jerry. I will need your strength to pull the claws apart.”

“Got it.”

“I’ll apply pressure to the sides, that should help release the mechanism. On three.”

He looks up to lock eyes with Carol who gives him a nod of understanding. He waits until she has a secure hold around Sophia before looking down at the trap again.

“I won’t lie to you, Sophia. This is going to hurt. If you want to scream you can do it. You’ll be safe. My knights will protect us from any of the wasted.” 

Sophia gives a tight short nod in understanding as she turns to look around, her eyes dancing from one person to the other before turning back to him. “Are you ready, Sophia?”

Sophia’s hazel eyes fill with tears but she gives him a brave nod. 

He turns to look at Jerry once again before returning his gaze to the trap. His fingers tremble as they wrap around either side of the trap releases. He prays they’ll be strong enough. He watches Jerry’s hand wrap around each side of the jaws of the trap. Sophia moans in pain but remains as still as possible. 

“One...” 

They have to be fast so the risk of calling the death to them is minimal.

“Two...” 

They have to do it at the first try to minimize not only the pain Sophia feels but also the damage to her foot.

They can’t fail.

“Three!” 

He instantly pushes on the ends of the trap with all of his might. His weight helps him dislodge the mechanism but it still takes all of Jerry’s strength to pull apart the jaws. Sophia’s screams bounce around the clearing as her blood splurts from the holes in her tattered boots. They dislodge the metal clasp, Jerry letting out a grunt as he exerts most of his strength. The hole is big enough for Sophia’s foot to slip through and Carol, as if she could read his mind, pulls her daughter backwards until Sophia is finally free.

“Quickly! Tourniquet beneath her knee.” He calls out before he’s even lets go of the trap. The moment Jerry’s fingers are safe, Ezekiel releases trap and starts reaching for his belt to unbuckle it. As soon as it’s free, he tightens it’s around Sophia’s leg, pulling it as hard as he can to stop the blood flow and to prevent her from bleeding out.

Realizing that Sophia has grown quiet and feeling her leg stop resisting, Ezekiel quickly turns up to catch his wife cradling her ashen-faced daughter. “She’s out. She’s out.” Carol breathes in relief. She knows that Sophia has passed out from the pain and that even though it’s scary it’s the way her body is protecting her from the pain she’d feel if she was conscious. “We have to get her home.”

Ezekiel gives her a nod before turning to look towards one of the knights. “Get to the horses as fast as you can. Ride ahead of us and warn the medic of our arrival.”

“Yes, sir.” The young man gives a sharp nod before turning around and disappearing the way they came.

Before Jerry can offer, Ezekiel bends down and picks up the frail-looking girl. She’s less heavy than he expected her to be. In fact, as she settles in his arms Ezekiel finds that she’s no heavier than Henry. Their son has fallen asleep in Carol’s arms more than once and he’s been tasked with carrying him to his bed afterward. In fact, Sophia probably weighs less than Henry did when Carol had come into their lives a couple of years ago. The thought of what the poor girl had been missing, had learned to go on without, breaks Ezekiel’s heart further.

“My Queen.” He hears Jerry reverently say and turns to look at them just as his best friend offers his arm to a shaken Carol. 

Worriedly, Ezekiel searches for her eyes. He needs her to know that he’s going to do everything he can to make sure Sophia heals. That he’s going to protect her daughter just as he protects their son. That he’ll do everything in his power so that she and Sophia are never separated again. The moment her blue eyes catch his is the moment she finally relaxes, slumping tiredly against Jerry. She gives him a small nod, almost imperceptible unless one were looking for it but it’s enough for Ezekiel to know that she understands.

He gives her a small smile in return before nodding with his head towards the general direction of The Kingdom. “Come. Let’s take your baby, home.” 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s a hard time for those that love Carol and Zeke but I hope this story, or any of my work, helps us get through this. Love you all!


	4. Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carol will not leave Sophia’s side so Henry makes a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> Carol Peletier, Sophia Peletier, King Ezekiel, Henry, Jerry, Shiva, and any other recognizable character, part of script or plot of The Walking Dead belong to AMC Network and Skybound Entertainment, Image Comics and Robert Kirkman.
> 
> In no way is the author claiming ownage of any of the characters nor is there any economical/monetary gain at any time. The author is extremely respectful of the original creators and is willing to take down this work of fiction if requested.
> 
> No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Original characters are property of the author.

“Is she still sleeping?” 

Carol has been sitting by Sophia’s side ever since they made it back to The Kingdom, refusing to leave even to rest. She looks absolutely exhausted as he hands her the cup of warm tomato soup but he doesn’t have the heart to push her to go to bed. If Henry was in Sophia’s place, both he and Carol would be sitting by his side, refusing to move even an inch. 

“Yeah. She must have been exhausted.” Carol whispers. She takes the warm cup from him but doesn’t eat any of it. Instead, she rests the cup on her lap and continues looking at Sophia as if she’ll disappear at any moment. “I can’t even imagine what she’s gone through.”

“Whatever it was, we’ll help her through it,” Ezekiel promises. “She’s not alone. Not anymore. She has you now. Everyone at Kingdom will help her through it, too.”

Carol smiles. It’s a small smile, the tiniest of smiles, but the first smile he’s seen on her lips since they found Sophia so he’ll take it. “Thank you.”

Knowing he’s not going to pull Carol away from Sophia, Ezekiel decides to pull the nearest chair closer so that he can sit by her. He doesn’t relax though, instead, he motions towards the cup he just handed to her, urging her to eat. Carol follows his movement with her eyes and shakes her head once she realizes what he wants. “I’m not really hungry.”

“I know but you have to eat. Sophia will need you to be strong when she wakes up.” He urges and points at the cup again.

Carol sighs defeated but reaches for the spoon he’d left in the cup. She takes a spoonful and swallows before setting it back in her lap and turning to look towards Sophia. Her girl hasn’t moved an inch but he can still see the sadness settle in her expression once Carol realizes that she’s still unconscious. “I just... I keep thinking back to the time I lost her and how long ago it was. She had never been alone before. How... how did she survive? How did she make it all the way here? Why didn’t I keep looking?”

“My love, that’s not your fault. She was searched for.” He quickly reminds her. “You had to leave when the hoard descended upon the farm, remember?”

“I know, but does she know that?” 

Ezekiel knows, by the way her chin trembles, that she’s doing everything she can to hold back the tears. For so long she’d believe the only possible outcome had been that Sophia had died in the woods beside the farm. He’d been there when she’d finally broken down after years of holding the grief back. She’d cried and mourned her precious daughter in his arms. They’d even planted a garden in her memory; a place where Carol could go whenever she was missing her. Now Carol has to come to terms with the fact that not only had Sophia survived the ordeal but that she had been alone for years. 

“If she doesn’t, we will make sure that she finds out.” He promises. “Carol, I know that grief is making you blame yourself, but her disappearance wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known the wasted would stumble upon the roadblock. You couldn’t have anticipated her running into the woods.”

The first tear rolls down her face before he can reach over to brush it away. He hates to see her cry but she also knows how cleansing tears can be. If she needs to cry who is he to tell her not to? Instead, he places a hand over hers and takes away the cup of cooling soup. After placing the cup on the floor, he pulls both of her hands towards his lips and presses a kiss to them. 

“Carol, you are a good mother, always have been. From what you’ve told me I recall you mentioning that you always protected her, shielded her from the pain Ed was able to inflict and made sure she had everything she needed to grow. You do the same with Henry. When our son has found himself in pain, you’ve been there to hold him and reassure him everything will be fine. When he’s gotten in trouble, you’ve taught him how to deal with his mistakes. You love him as if he had been born from your womb. If that isn’t being a good mother, a great mother, then I don’t know what is.”

Carol licks her lip and sniffles before giving a little nod. She turns once more to look towards Sophia, brushing away her tears with the back of her hand. “The tramp snapped her bone but from what we can tell it was a clean break. Myriam was able to set it. She won’t be able to walk for a while, not until it fully heals but other than that and a bunch of stitches she will be fine.”

Myriam had been a Godsend to them. They had found her and her group as they battled a small horde and as a thank you for saving them and opening The Kingdom to them, she had decided to offer her nursing expertise and had become somewhat of the resident medic. She took care of everyone; from small things such as headaches, bumps, and bruises to bigger things that required more treatment. As soon as she had received Sophia earlier that day, Myriam had ushered both Jerry and Ezekiel out, accepting Carol’s help only because she was the young girl’s mother and because Carol had refused to leave her side. She was so overprotective of her patients that Ezekiel was surprised she had let him in even now, which he is thankful for because he would have gladly pulled the ‘king’ card if he needed to in order to get to his wife and to Sophia.

“She’s malnourished, from what Myriam could tell. Not starving but she’s obviously struggled.” Carol continues explaining. By the way she squeezes his hand he can tell that it’s obviously hard on her. Instead of interrupting her, Ezekiel squeezes back. “Once she wakes up she’s going to need a bath, clean clothes, and a place to sleep.”

“We have an empty bedroom in our home.” He reminds her. “That can be her room.”

Carol turns to look at him with a teary gaze that makes his heart constrict once more. “I didn’t want to assume.” 

The room had been Ben’s room before his untimely death. Ezekiel had been unable to change a single thing within it, wanting to keep it just like the young man had left it. It was more for Henry’s sake than for his, though he still missed Ben terribly. Ben, like Henry, had been his son and his death had torn at his soul. 

“Benjamin would have wanted her to have him,” Ezekiel reassures her. “He would have been the first one to offer it.”

“And Henry?” They both knew their young son still missed his brother and would occasionally spend some time in the room. He knows Carol doesn’t want to take that away from him. She would rather cut off her own arm than hurt Henry in any way.

“I will talk with him. He’s a kind soul who won’t want Sophia to be away from you. If he desires, he can take whatever he wants from Ben’s room. We can keep everything else in a safe place for when Henry is older. Worry not, my love.”

Carol gives him a small nod before letting out a sigh of relief. Her shoulders are still hunched forward and she still has that wrinkle on her forehead that signals her worry, but she seems to be a little lighter as if a weight has been taken from her shoulders. “She’s... she’s going to need so much love, Zeke.”

“And she will get it, Carol. From you. From Henry. From Jerry and Nabila. From me. She will find no lack of love. Whatever she needs, we will provide for her.”

In his heart, Sophia is already part of their family. She had been for a very long time. From the moment Carol had gone into detail about their lives before the fall of civilization, Ezekiel had promised her that Sophia’s memory would not be forgotten. More than once he had wished he had the power to change the past so that Carol could have her daughter back. Not in his wildest dreams did he think Sophia would appear out of nowhere but he was glad she had. Now, he would love the girl as only a father could, just like he loved Henry.

Remembering the soup and the fact that Carol hadn’t eaten it, Ezekiel presses another kiss to Carol’s hand before releasing it and reaching for the cup. “I’ll warm this up for you. I know you aren’t hungry but you need to eat. And you need to sleep.”

Carol opens her mouth to interrupt but he quickly shakes his head before getting up and leaning down to press a kiss to the top of Carol’s head. “I don’t expect you’ll leave her side so I’ll bring some blankets and a pillow. You can rest on the other bed.” 

Their medical building might not be as big as Alexandria’s was but they had two beds per room. With Sophia resting in one of them, the other was free for Carol to use for as long as she needed. He’d miss her in bed, in fact, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep without her near him, but the least he could do was make sure that she was as comfortable as could be while they prepared Ben’s room.

Tilting her head back, Carol gives him another small smile before she puckers her lips for a kiss. Once more he leans down, his lips quickly finding hers. It’s a soft kiss, a peck on the lips, but it’s hopefully enough to reassure her that he loves her and that he is there for her. For both of them.

While the soup warms up, Ezekiel makes quick work of gathering Carol’s favorite blanket from the back of the sofa. From experience, he knows that it’s warm enough to keep her cozy without overheating her. A quick trip to their room produces her pillow which he puts under his arm so that he can carry everything. Armed with the pillow, the blankets, the soup, and her pajamas in case she needs them, Ezekiel makes his way back to the infirmary. 

As soon as he closes the door behind him and starts making his way down the corridor he notices that someone is with Carol. Her voice carries down the hallway followed by the softer tone of Henry’s voice. Ezekiel chuckles for he should have known their son would find his way to his mother. If there was a person who loved Carol more than he did, it was probably Henry and the boy wasn’t shy in showing it.

Silently, Ezekiel enters the room so that he doesn’t interrupt them. Both Carol and Henry are facing Sophia as they talk, giving him ample time to put down the clothes, blanket, and pillow on the bed before he makes his way towards his family, ready to offer the warm soup back to his wife.

As soon as Henry realizes that Ezekiel is there, the boy eagerly turns towards him, a bright smile on his face. “Dad! I was just telling Mom that Sophia could stay in Ben’s old bedroom when she’s good enough to leave here.” He declares. “They have to be together. Right?”

Ezekiel smiles brightly at his son. He’d known Henry would approve of Sophia living with them, but to hear him offer his brother’s old bedroom made Ezekiel extremely proud of him. It wasn’t easy to let go especially for his son who had lost the last piece of his biological family. Henry would forever remember his brother but he was choosing to honor him by doing exactly what Ben would have done had he been alive instead of keeping the room as his brother had left it. 

After handing the soup to Carol and reminding her that she has to eat, Ezekiel ruffles his son’s blonde hair. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, son. Your mother and Sophia have been separate for far too long.” He agrees before sharing a quick knowing look with Carol. He can see the pride in Carol’s eyes and smile and knows that she sees it reflected in his.

“I’m glad you found her, mom,” Henry admits before leaning forward on the chair Ezekiel had been sitting on and leaning his head on Carol’s shoulder. Carol immediately wraps her arm around him, pulling him as close as the chairs will permit. “I know how much you missed her.”

“You do?” Carol asks in her soft motherly tone, a tone that she uses only for Henry. 

Henry nods before pulling back so that he can look into his mother’s face. “Yeah. I’ve heard you and dad talking about her. About how she got lost in the woods. How you couldn’t find her afterward. I knew you had a daughter before you came here but I didn’t know where she had gone to and I didn’t want to make you sad if I asked. I know it’s not nice to eavesdrop but I heard you crying one night and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

A tear comes out of nowhere and falls on Carol’s cheek. It doesn’ last long before Henry has reached over to brush it away. “Don’t cry, mom. Sophia is here and she’s safe. You don’t have to cry anymore.”

With a tenderness that can only be born from mother’s love, Carol reaches over and fully embraces Henry. Their son goes willingly no doubt sensing that Carol needs both of her children near her. Where he would have once playfully pretended to be overwhelmed by his mother doting on him, Henry not settles against her contently. 

“They are happy tears,” Carol promises before she kisses the top of his head. “I promise.”

“Don’t tell anyone but I always wanted a sister. Even before this all happened, I was secretly hoping mom and dad would have another baby and I could be an older brother. Now I have Sophia.”

“She’s older than you son.” Ezekiel reminds him though he’s not sure if Henry will even care. 

“Doesn’t matter. She’s new to The Kingdom so I’ll make sure to take her around so she knows every crock and cranny. I can teach her how to use the stick and how to bring down walkers twice her size, once her foot is better.” Henry decides. 

Ezekiel doesn’t have the heart to tell him Sophia could probably show him more than he could teach her, so he simply nods along. After all, what matters is that Henry already considers her a sister. Sophia had gone from having no one, to finding her mother, and instantly gaining a family that happily welcomed her to a new home. Now all she had to do was wake up so that they could get started on her road to recovery.

“Come on, son.” Ezekiel finally beckons his son over. It is late and Carol still needs to finish her soup before going to bed. “Let your mother rest and watch over your sister. You have school tomorrow if I recall correctly.”

Henry groans at the thought of school though he does get up from the chair. “Night, mom.”He places a soft goodnight peck on Carol’s cheek before turning towards the sleeping Sophia. “Hope you feel better soon, sis.”

After watching his son leave the room, Ezekiel turns towards Carol who is finally eating her soup by the spoonful. “Good. Eat all of it. Then go to bed. I know it’s going to be hard to sleep and harder to not stay right by her side, but you’ll do her no good if you are exhausted when she wakes up.”

“I know.” Carol takes the last spoonful then hands the cup over. Ezekiel quickly takes hold of it and makes a mental note to not forget to take it to the kitchen to be cleaned. “I’ll sleep. I promise.”

”Good.”

Carol gives him a nod before standing up and leaning over Sophia. She carefully moves down to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead before pulling back. Sophia remains asleep, unflinching. Just as he predicted he can see the hesitation in Carol’s movements. She doesn’t want to be far from her daughter. Even a couple of steps away seems too big of a distance for her. 

Knowing she will find a reason to stay right by Sophia, Ezekiel gently reaches for her, his hand brushing hers. Carol immediately curls her fingers around his in response to his caress and Ezekiel uses it as his opportunity to pull her towards her designated bed for the night. “Come on. You won’t be far from her..”

“I know. I’m just... afraid she’ll vanish into thin air.” 

“She won’t.” He promises. Ezekiel turns to face Carol, taking both of her hands and waiting until she has looked away from Sophia and towards him. “She has no reason to disappear. She is safe here. You are here. She will heal from this because we will all help her.”

“I know,” Carol mumbles before looking down at their feet.

Tenderly, Ezekiel reaches to place his finger under her chin. He guides her face up until he is looking into her eyes. “You won’t be a bad mother if you rest a little. Just lay down and close your eyes.”

“But-“

“No buts. You need to sleep and rest. So you are going to do that while I look over both of you, understood?” He doesn’t wait for her answe. He turns towards the hospital bed to pat the mattress to tell her to get on. Carol stumbles for a second but eventually lets her body fall exhausted on top of the mattress. He quickly kneels down in front of her and makes quick work of her boots, taking first one and then the other. He won’t try and get her into her pajamas, she’s far too exhausted for that. Instead, he gently lifts her legs and slides them onto the mattress before quickly reaching to cover her with the blanket. 

Carol buries her face against the pillow while simultaneously bringing up the blanket to cover herself up to her nose. She has gone from saying she doesn’t want to rest to being completely sleepy goo. Ezekiel can’t help but chuckle at the image of his wife as she inhales deeply before further burying her face into the pillow. “Smells like us.” She mumbles contently.

He grins, unable to stop the happiness he feels at the reminder that they are a couple, that their marriage is something that brings her happiness and peace. 

“Go to sleep, sleepyhead.” He whispers before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’ll watch over our girl.”

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Ezekiel and Henry would have lived Sophia and would have embraced her as part of their family right way! What do you guys think?


	5. Like Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glass can be sturdy. Glass can break. So can Sophia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> Carol Peletier, Sophia Peletier, King Ezekiel, Henry, Jerry, Shiva, and any other recognizable character, part of script or plot of The Walking Dead belong to AMC Network and Skybound Entertainment, Image Comics and Robert Kirkman.
> 
> In no way is the author claiming ownage of any of the characters nor is there any economical/monetary gain at any time. The author is extremely respectful of the original creators and is willing to take down this work of fiction if requested.
> 
> No copyright infringement intended.
> 
> Original characters are property of the author

The whimpers are almost imperceptible at first. Tiny little sounds that slide through the room he’s been silently guarding and which are almost nonexistent by the time they reach his ears. As the second's tick by they rise in volume in a way that tells him he isn’t imagining things. He knows the sounds well. He knows the whimpering that will give way to twitching, accelerated breathing, and twisting about in bed until a scream will finally pull whoever is making the sounds out of the nightmare they are wrapped in.

At first, he thinks the whimpers come from Carol. Though their marriage is still relatively young compared to the future ahead of them, he isn’t a stranger to her night terrors. Sometimes they come in the form of small reminders of the past trauma she’s endured, and sometimes they can be as strong and sharp as a tiger claw slicing through flesh. He’s always there for them, ready to push them away with a soft caress that reminds her she’s safe or simply by holding her and listening to what she has to say as Carol lowers the strong barriers she’s placed against her past.

She’s told him he is her safe harbor and that’s something he doesn’t take lightly.

Knowing she won’t like to have a nightmare while Sophia is in the same room, Ezekiel moves towards his wife’s sleeping figure. He’s ready to soothe tonight’s nightmare away before it can become something worse. Instead of finding the knotted forehead she always has when in the throes of a nightmare, he’s surprised to find her sleeping with a calm expression, no trace of terror I’m in her face. It is only then that he hears a louder whimper, loud enough to realize that the sound is coming from the other bed.

Sophia is having a nightmare.

He takes a step closer towards the young one’s bed but stops abruptly. He’s dealt with Carol’s nightmares before but never Sophia’s. Sure, he has some expertise having dealt with Henry’s nightmares when his biological dad and brother had died, but this was completely different. Sophia had been lost for years. She had been surviving alone all that time. She was used to sleeping alone and waking alone. He had no way of knowing how she’d react to find him hovering near her. What could ease Carol and Henry’s nightmares could easily make Sophia’s worse and that was the last thing the girl needed.

“Carol?” He whispers under his breath. “My love, wake up.”

He doesn’t turn away from the now twitching and moaning Sophia, his gaze glued to her face as he tries to wake his wife. Sophia has the same expression Henry has when he experiences a nightmare, an expression that tugs at his paternal heart painfully. He wants to ease her fear as much as he’d ever wanted to ease Henry’s.

“Wake up, Carol.” He repeats.

“Hmmm..?” Carol hums in her sleep. It’s a sign that she’s waking and can hear his voice somewhat, but he knows that he has to continue calling to her to get her to wake up fully. She must have been truly emotionally exhausted to be so deep in sleep.

“Babe, Sophia needs you.” He continues. “She’s having a nightmare.”

He is fully aware of the moment she wakes up because he hears her practically jump out of the bed and scramble towards them. Her naked feet hit the cold floor making him regret having taken off her socks once she’d fallen asleep. Carol quickly passes him but stops short of actually reaching Sophia. Instead of waking her, she stares at her whimpering daughter, her chest rising and falling quickly.

Sophia’s whimpers become louder, her head turning to the side of the bed facing away from them.

“What’s wrong?” Ezekiel asks for he doesn’t understand why she has stopped. He has seen her maternal side hundreds of times before, including when Henry had nightmares. She’s never hesitated before so he doesn’t understand why she does so now. “Carol?”

“What if I scare her?” She replies. Carol never looks away from Sophia though her hand does lift to hover over her daughter’s head. “If she wakes up and sees me and gets scared?”

“Why would she?” Ezekiel closes the distance between them. He presses himself to her back to create a solid mass for her to lean against if she needs it. “You are her mama, Carol. Of all the people in the world, you are the one that she will always need. You are her safety.”

Sophia whimpers again. She turns towards them, her forehead showing signs of her worry as she curls into a fetal position.

“What if I am not?” Carol looks over her shoulder, eyes teary and lips pressed tightly together. “What if... while she was out there... she learn to hate me?”

Before he can reply, Sophia beats him by letting out something between a whimper and a scream. “Ma... mama!”

Carol reacts right away. Her previous fear of scaring Sophia seems to disappear completely as she sits on the edge of the bed and pulls her daughter close. Sophia fights against her embrace at first but Carol shushes her, her hold never wavering. With her daughter’s face half-buried against her chest, Carol starts tracing the curve of Sophia’s ear with the pad of her finger. Though he’s never seen her do that with Henry, the motion seems practiced and natural.

It seems to be working. Sophia’s whimpering slows down considerably. Her forehead is still wrinkled but it has somewhat relaxed. Her breathing slowly returns to normal. With each pass of Carol’s finger over the curve of Sophia’s ear, the young girl seems to relax further and further until there is no trace of her nightmare.

She’s not sleeping though. Ezekiel can see the way her eyes move around, the way her eyelashes twitch as she pretends to be asleep. Carol seems to pick up on her state of consciousness as well and sighs sadly. “I hate to see her have nightmares. I hated it when she was smaller because I knew Ed invaded her dreams. Now I hate them even more because I don’t know how to fight them. I don’t know what she’s gone thru.”

“When she was a baby and something would scare her, I would always hug her and trace the curve of her ear,” Carol explains, her eyes glued to her daughter’s face as her movement continues. “It always worked. It always calmed her. When the nightmares came at night and she’d call out for me, I’d do the same. Sometimes she stayed sleeping. Sometimes she would wake up and we’d talk about what she was scared about.”

“It still works.” Ezekiel knows he’s just stating the obvious, but something tells him his wife needs to hear it so he’ll gladly say it. She’s worried she can’t be what Sophia needs without realizing she’s already providing her daughter with everything she possibly could. “Just look at how your touch calmed her. I’m sure that when she’s ready she’ll open her eyes and talk to you, just like when she was a child.”

Carol doesn’t reply. She continues to look at Sophia, waiting for her to show she’s awake. The gentle caress on the shell of Sophia’s ear never stops. When Sophia seems content to just lay within her mother’s arms, Carol gives a little nod and whispers. “I love you, Soph.”

In response, Sophia wiggles as close as she can, burying her face fully against her mother’s body. The movement reminds him of all the times he’d seen tiger cubs bury themselves in their mother’s fur, disappearing against them, trusting them to watch over while they slept.

“Love ya, Mama.” Sophia lets out in the tiniest of whispers. It’s the only indication that she gives of being awake for her eyes have remained close.

Carol’s eyes fill with tears. He can see that his wife is trying hard to keep them from falling but no matter how much she tips her head back, the tears fall. Without stopping the motherly caress to Sophia’s ear, she raises her free hand and brushes the tears away with her thumb. “It’s going to be alright.” She whispers. “You’ll see, Soph. The Kingdom can be your new home. You’ll be safe here. Safe and loved. You won’t have to worry about anything. You’ll get better, your foot will heal, your nightmares will disappear. I know it sounds crazy but it happened to me so I know it will happen for you. I’m going to be right beside you through it all. I promise.”

Sophia remains playing possum except for the tiny curl upward of her lip. Ezekiel instantly recalls the first time he’d seen Carol truly smile as she stood at the entrance of what had become her little home. He’d been offering her a pomegranate, enticing her to try it. She’d fought it at first but eventually the tiny curl had given way to a bigger smile as she moved aside for him and Shiva to pass thru. That had been the start of their friendship, of her finding a home in their community. He has no way of knowing what horrors Sophia has gone thru, but he hopes that the tiny smile is also a new beginning for her. The start of life in The Kingdom.

-

When morning comes so does Sophia’s sense of self-preservation.

Ezekiel doesn’t blame her. When he’d initially been roaming after the world had fallen -and before he’d met up with Henry, Benjamin, and their dad- he’d gotten used to relying only on Shiva and himself. It had been hard but they’d somehow managed. He now knows they’d barely survived and that meeting them and forming what would become The Kingdom had been a lifeline they desperately needed, but the pair had learned to rely only on each other.

The first few days after meeting them had been hard. His world had suddenly grown by three. He’d been forced to interact with other humans, to learn to communicate verbally again and to rely on others for things he had learned to do on his own. What had ultimately helped him was the knowledge that Shiva was there no matter what. She became his touchstone, the thing he could always fall back on. Just knowing she was there and would continue to be there had been enough to propel him into becoming The King.

Similarly, when Carol had arrived at The Kingdom she had been ready to go through life on her own. She’d wanted to disappear and had no desire to trust anyone, much less to be part of a community. She’d had her bag packed full of supplies, ready for her to bolt at any moment. That knowledge that she was ready was enough for her to feel somewhat safe while she learned to trust him, to trust others. Slowly the pack had started to empty as their love grew. He’d then become her safe harbor.

Carol has quickly become Sophia’s touchstone and safety.

According to the guard he’d left outside of Sophia’s infirmary room while he made sure Henry got his day started, Carol had gone to fetch breakfast. Sophia was supposed to be sleeping. He had planned to wait in there while Carol came back and to watch over the sleeping girl for however long it took so that she wouldn’t disappear. She was injured but he also knew that injuries had a way of not being important when a sudden rush of adrenaline kicked in.

But Sophia wasn’t sleeping.

She’d been curled in a fetal position facing the wall when the door had closed behind him. Ezekiel had then walked towards the nearest chair and sat down. Unfortunately, the chair had scooted back as soon as he’d sat, letting out a shrill sound as the legs scraped against the floor.

The sound was all it took for Sophia to jump into defense mode.

Once again the young girl proves how fast she can be, injured or not. With lightning speed, she uncurls, reaches for the first thing she can find which turns out to be a glass vase, smashes it, and takes one of the huge shards as a weapon which she brands towards him.

“Move back!” She demands in a voice eerily similar to Carol’s commanding battle voice.

He instinctually raised his arms to prove he doesn’t want to hurt her, to show her that he isn’t armed. “Hey, hey, Sophia calm down.”

Sophia’s widened eyes sweep around the room. When she doesn’t find what she wants she returns her scared gaze towards him. “Where’s Mama?” She asks

“She went to fetch some breakfast.” He explains. He continues to hold his hands up in a defensive mode. The last thing he needs is for Sophia to feel afraid and threatened. He needs to de-escalate the situation, not make it worse. “She should be arriving soon.”

“Where... where am I?”

Ezekiel blinks confused. He knows she was awake when Carol had told her The Kingdom could be her home yet Sophia appears to need confirmation of it. Perhaps she hadn’t been awake and they had been mistaken to believe so. Perhaps she really doesn’t know where she is at.

“Lady Sophia,” he says in his most kingly voice he has. “You are in The Kingdom.”

“I'm not a Lady.” She quickly corrects him. Once again she reminds him so much of Carol whenever she tells him that she isn’t a Queen. From the tone of her voice to the way her forehead wrinkles.

“Miss. Sophia.” He corrects himself for her sake.

Sophia shifts her weight on the bed but instantly flinches in pain. Without lowering the shard of glass, she looks down at her bandaged foot as I’d she doesn’t remember what happened.

“You are hurt. Your foot got caught in a tramp. Jerry, my steward, and I were able to liberate you. We brought you here, to get medical treatment, and to rest.”

Something flashes in her eyes, perhaps a memory of the pain she’d been in when the tramp had closed around her ankle. “I... I ran.”

“Indeed you did, Miss. Sophia.”

“I thought... I thought Mama was...” She doesn’t finish her thought but Ezekiel understands. After all the time they’d spent separated, Sophia probably thought her mother was a trick of her mind instead of flesh and blood. It would certainly explain why she had bolted away from Carol.

“She’s real,” He promises. “Otherwise I am afraid that we share the same dream.”

The door opens behind him as if to prove his point. Sophia turns to look towards it, her gaze locking with Carol's figure as she steps into the room. Though he knows Sophia would never hurt Carol, Ezekiel still takes a step closer to Carol to put himself between them. He doesn’t block Sophia’s ability to see her mother but he puts himself close enough to be able to protect her in case Sophia reacts unfavorably.

“Sophia?” Carol addresses her with something of a question. He knows she hadn’t expected to walk in and find Sophia threatening him. He also knows that she’s already studying the situation and preparing to ease Sophia’s obvious fear.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees her move towards the nearest bed where she places the tray of food she’s been carrying. As soon as she’s let go of the handles of the tray, she too raises her hands. “Sweetheart... can you please lower the glass?”

Sophia doesn’t reply but doesn’t lower the glass either. Instead, she stares at Carol, her eyes moving up and down as she studies her.

Silently, Carol takes a step closer.

Sophia immediately raises the glass higher, her breathing hitching a couple of notches as her eyes continue to sweep over every inch of her mother.

“Carol-” Ezekiel tries to warn his wife not to get closer but Carol shakes her head at him.

“Sophia,” she whispers in a very soft tone. “Sweetheart, it's Mama.”

“You... you are real.” Sophia doesn’t ask this time. Her words are a statement of what she’s starting to accept; her mother is real and she has found her. The knowledge gives Ezekiel a little hope that things will end up alright but he still maintains his protective stance.

“I am,” Carol says with a nod of the head.

“Your... your hair...” The young girl stammers. “It’s... longer.”

“Yes, it is.” Carol’s hand moves to caress a strand of her hair, something she does whenever someone mentions the length of it. He can’t help the warm feeling he gets at the knowledge that she let it grow because of him and the safety his love provides. “I let it grow.”

“Why? Ed... he’ll... hurt you.”

Carol shakes her head softly. He knows she’s trying to keep her movements as flowy as possible to avoid any sharp movements that might scare Sophia. “Not anymore. He died, remember? He died back at the quarry.”

It’s Sophia’s turn to nod, her eyes getting a faraway look as if she’s remembering what her mother is mentioning.

“He can’t hurt me, and he can’t hurt you. I would never allow it. Neither would Ezekiel.”

Sophia’s eyes turn towards him. He cracks a smile in the hope that it will alleviate some of the tension. Sophia doesn’t look very convinced though. “Ezekiel?”

“Yes,” Carol continues. “Do you remember he found you by the river?”

Sophia nods hesitantly. “He... speaks funny.”

He can’t help but chuckle at Sophia’s words. It’s not the first time he’s heard that statement and it probably won’t be the last. At least if Sophia thinks that he speaks funny then she can’t be all that scared of him.

“I know,” Carol agrees with her daughter as she takes another step closer and slowly lowers her hands. “He does that sometimes, but he is a good man. It’s one of the things I love about him. I trust him with my life. He won’t hurt you, just like he won’t hurt me. You don’t need that glass because no one is going to hurt you here.”

Sophia’s eyes turn towards the piece of glass. She seems to silently debate whether she should trust her mother and lower the shard or keep it high to protect herself. “And outside?”

“No harm will come to you in The Kingdom, Sophia,” Ezekiel interjects. “I personally vouch for your safety.”

“And you won’t... leave... Mama?” Sophia’s question comes out sounding unsure, her voice trembling with the fear of her mother vanishing the moment she lowers the glass.

It is at that moment that Ezekiel truly knows that her voyage to The Kingdom hasn’t been free of pain. Whatever she’s gone through has seriously affected her. As much as she is strong enough to survive being out there on her own, there is also a side of her that is broken and in dire need of love. Her belief that Carol can disappear at any second is fueled by that painful side of her.

“I won’t, baby.” He hears Carol promise as she takes the final step towards her daughter. “I’m not leaving you ever again. I promise.”

Ezekiel watches with bathed breath as Carol extends her hand with her palm up, requesting Sophia to hand her the piece of glass. Sophia’s hand trembles but loosens around the sharp piece before dropping it on Carol’s palm. The instant that she has lost contact with her protection, Sophia crumbles once again. Carol is quick to catch her and hold her against her while moving her hand back so that Ezekiel can take the glass.

He quickly reaches for it and hides it in one of the large pockets of his coat. It will be safe there and away from Sophia’s fast hand. It is only when it’s put away that Ezekiel finally relaxes, the adrenaline leaving his body. Carol is safe. Sophia is safe. He is safe.

“Mama.” Sophia cries against Carol’s chest, her hands scratching at Carol’s back as she tries to hold her as hard as possible. “I thought I’d never find you.”

Carol buries her face in her daughter’s blond hair, her hand moving back and forth in small circles all over her back. She sways under the weight of Sophia but uses that movement to her advantage to calm her daughter further. “But you did, sweetheart. You did. You found me.”

“I tried to get back to you.” Sophia’s sobs and hiccups break up her words but Carol is still able to understand and so can Ezekiel. “I tried Mama. I got lost and the walkers... they kept coming. I got lost.”

It’s strange to see Carol break down in front of other people. His wife has always been strong, sometimes too strong, and most of the time he’d seen her cry had been when they’d been alone. She always felt the need to seem invincible so no one would take advantage of her and only allowed herself to break when she knew no one would hurt her. Carol understood she was safe with him and that he’d never hurt her which is why he was privy to her tears and pain. He never liked to see her cry and had always strived to make her feel loved and happy. These tears, though, they mean something else; she is finally letting go of all the pain and fear that Sophia’s memory used to bring, she is finally releasing the guilt that she’d held close to her chest and which they’d been unable to get rid of.

“I never wanted to leave you behind, baby.” Carol gently guides Sophia so that she can lean against her chest while Carol sits down on the bed. “We searched. We searched everywhere but we couldn’t find you. Everyone told me you were dead, that you couldn’t have survived, but I didn’t want to believe them. We searched until we couldn’t stay anymore.”

“I got lost.”

“You did, but not forever. You survived and you found me.” Carol reassures her as she gathers her as close as she physically can. Once again, Sophia curls against her just like she’d done the night before. She seems like a child. Like she’s reverted to the twelve-year-old that got lost and needed her mother. “You found us.”

“You and Ezekiel.”

“Yes. You found us and you found The Kingdom.”

Sophia pulls her head back, her hazel eyes quickly zeroing on his face. He knows she wants to ask something but instead of urging her to speak her mind, Ezekiel waits her out patiently until finally, in an unsure question, Sophia speaks. “I can stay? Here? With Mama?”

“Of course!” He replies right away. He doesn’t want there to be any question that she’s welcomed to stay. He wants her to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that The Kingdom is her home. “You can have your own room where to leave your things, where to sleep once you get out of here. Would you like that, Sophia?”

“I’d like that.” Sophia admits before burrowing against Carol again.

“Then that’s what we are going to do.” He declares with an encouraging smile. “I will have a room prepared for you in our home, ready to welcome you.”

“But first, let’s have some breakfast.” Carol interjects before he can let his mind fly. She sends him a teasing little smile before pressing a kiss to the top of Sophia’s head. It is a smile she’d used many times when they’d just been friends and she’d been teaching him how to survive in a world that was out to kill them at the first chance it had. It is also a smile she uses when her friends are over and they grow exasperated with the way The Kingdom is run. He knows that smile means she loves him more than she ever thought possible to love, but that he’s getting a little ahead of himself and he needs to slow down. Step by step had been the way to go with Carol and it seems that it is the way to go with Sophia. “You need to eat so the medicine will not hurt your tummy. Once that’s done, maybe we can go outside. I think you’ll like it here.”

“Do you like it, Mama?” Sophia asks her.

Carol makes eye contact with him over Sophia’s head. Her eyes are shinning bright with the happiness she feels, a happiness he quickly finds is invading him as well. He knows her answer before she says it and sends a grin towards the pair.

“I love it, baby. I love it.”

TBC. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like? No like?

**Author's Note:**

> This is way shorter than my usual chapters but I wanted to have them smaller to get this story quicker to you guys.
> 
> What do you think?


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